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Mother Elephant came hack with the Christmas pudding 











LITTLE ELEPHANTS 
CHRISTMAS 


STORY BY HELUIZ WASHBURNE 
PICTURES BY JEAN McCONNEU. 

Author and artist of Little Elephant Catches Cold 

JUNIOR PRESS BOOKS 

albertXwh itman 

4co 

CHICAGO 




Copyright, 1938, by Albert Whitman & Company 






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LITHOGRAPHED IN THE U.S.A. 


122386 

OCT 2^1938 




12-5 



L ITTLE ELEPHANT was all excited. In a few 
4 days it would be Christmas. School was over 
and snow lay white and thick on the ground. 
Many times each day the bell in the kitchen went 
ting-a-ling-a-ling and Little Elephant rushed to the 
door to see who was there. Sometimes it was the 
expressman who drove up in a truck and dumped 
a big box or two. Sometimes it was the postman 
who came up the path with a mail bag of little bun¬ 
dles swinging from his trunk. 

There were long bundles, short bundles, flat bun¬ 
dles, round bundles, thin bundles, square bundles 
—bundles, bundles, bundles! And all of them were 
pasted over with bright red Christmas seals. 


5 










“Can’t I open just one now?” teased Little Ele¬ 
phant. But Mother Elephant always said, “No, not 
till Christmas morning,” and she piled them up in 
the hall. He looked at them, shook them, and won¬ 
dered what was inside. 

Little Elephant had saved his money and had 
bought Christmas presents for the family. He was 
pleased about the things he had chosen, and he 
often picked them up and looked at them. 

This was a nice grey woolly trunk-warmer for 
Grandpa Elephant—poor Grandpa’s nose was al¬ 
ways cold. Little Elephant liked the bright red 
stripes around this one. Here was a lovely wide 
silver lace collar for Mother Elephant to make her 
look beautiful. 

And this little bundle was a box of special paints 
for Father Elephant. He would use them to deco¬ 
rate his tusks. Father Elephant was very proud of 
his fine, long tusks. 

At last came the day before Christmas. Wrap¬ 
ped in a large red and white checked apron, Mother 
Elephant was making the big Christmas pudding. 
Little Elephant watched her rub the butter and 


6 



This was a nice grey woolly trunk-warmer 




















sugar together, drop in the eggs, and pour in the 
rich brown molasses. Then she added the plump 
raisins, the nuts and the red cherries. 

When it was all mixed she scooped it out onto a 
cloth and tied it up like a bag, put it in a huge ket¬ 
tle of water and set it on the stove to boil. 

“Here, Little Elephant, you can scrape the bowl,” 
she said. And that was exactly what Little Elephant 
had been waiting for. 

Father Elephant came home with a big Christ¬ 
mas tree in his trunk. 

“Oh, will it touch the ceiling?” cried Little Ele¬ 
phant when he saw it. 

That night Father Elephant set up the tree and 
it did touch the ceiling. Little Elephant helped to 
trim it. Father Elephant strung the lights and then 
unrolled the big ball of shiny tinsel. Holding it on his 
tusks he threw big loops of it around and around 
the tree. Little Elephant hung up the bright balls 
and the silver stars. 

Then Little Elephant very carefully opened a 
box of Christmas snow. It looked pretty and soft so 
he put the tip of his trunk in to feel it. Some of the 


8 



He threw big loops of it around and around the tree 
















snow slipped inside his nose and he gave a gentle 
“Whhoof .” That stirred up some of the snowflakes 
and gave him a splendid idea. 

Laying his trunk on the edge of the box he gave 
a mighty blow— 1 “Pooh-ooh.” The air was filled with 
a cloud of snowflakes and they fell down all over the 
green branches of the lovely Christmas tree. 

“Now it is time to hang up your stocking and 
go to bed,” said Father Elephant. 

Little Elephant ran upstairs and came down 
waving in his trunk the biggest stocking he could 
find. When he had hung it beside the fireplace he 
went off to bed as good little elephants should. 

Early the next morning Little Elephant galloped 
into his mother’s room. “Merry Christmas!” he bel¬ 
lowed, “Merry Christmas!” 

Mother Elephant sat up sleepily in her bed. Sure¬ 
ly it couldn’t be morning already. She rubbed her 
eyes and straightened her nightcap. 

“Come on! Get up! I want to see what’s in my 
stocking,” Little Elephant cried, pulling at the 
covers. 

“Brrr!” shivered Mother Elephant as she heaved 


10 



he could find 







herself out of bed and put on her snuggly red flan¬ 
nel robe. 

In the next room Father Elephant was snoring 
loudly, “Ugghhhhhhhh-Zzzzzz! Uggghhhhhhhh-Zzzz- 
zzzzz!” Little Elephant ran in to wake him up. 
“Uggghhhhhh-Zzzzzzz,” rumbled Father Elephant. 
The bed shook and the floor trembled while Father 
Elephant slept peacefully on. 

Little Elephant had to see what was in his stock¬ 
ing, but he couldn’t go down without Father Ele¬ 
phant. So he walked up to the bed on tiptoe and very 
gently blew in Father Elephant’s big ear. 

Father Elephant wiggled his ear and slept on. 
Little Elephant blew again, harder this time. Then 
Father Elephant flapped his big ear, gave a huge 
grunt, rolled over and woke with a snort. “Here, 
what’s the matter?” he growled. 

“Merry Christmas!” shouted Little Elephant. 

Father Elephant opened his twinkly eyes, and 
out of the corner of one saw Little Elephant stand¬ 
ing beside his bed. “Oh, it’s you,” he rumbled. “And 
what do you want at this time of the night? Go back 
to bed, you young rascal.” 


12 



He very gently blew in Father Elephant’s big ear 







‘It’s morning and I want to see what’s in my 
stocking,” piped Little Elephant jumping up and 
down. 

“Well, well, well,” muttered Father Elephant as 
he tumbled out of bed and felt around on the floor 
for his big, round carpet slippers. 

With all this noise, old Grandpa Elephant was 
soon awake. “What’s the matter? Is the house on 
fire?” he called out in his squeaky voice and came 
tottering into the hall. He was still wearing his long 
pointed, black nightcap with the red tassel on the 
end. 

Little Elephant had heard that Grandpa Ele¬ 
phant didn’t have any hair on the top of his head. 
But he wasn’t sure because Grandpa Elephant al¬ 
ways wore a wig in the daytime. And at night he 
wore his nightcap so that he wouldn’t catch cold. 

Now they all started down the stairs. Little Ele¬ 
phant marched ahead, clatter - clatter - clatter. 
Mother Elephant, holding up her wrapper, padded 
softly behind, plop-plop-plop. Father Elephant lum¬ 
bered along next, tromp-tromp-tromp, almost los¬ 
ing his carpet slippers at every step. At the end 


14 



He was still wearing his long, pointed black nightcap 








came Grandpa Elephant, shuffle-shuffle-shuffle. 

“Ye-ey! Look at my stocking!” cried Little Ele¬ 
phant as he ran over to the fireplace. It was long 
and bumpy and full of queer bulges. He trotted 
back upstairs, waving the stocking in his trunk. 

Then the rest of the family followed him and 
climbed up onto Father Elephant’s large bed to 
watch Little Elephant empty his stocking. 

He put in his trunk and brought out a big bunch 
of bananas. “Mmmm!” he cried, as he peeled one and 
popped it into his mouth. Then he peeled one for 
Father and one for Mother and one for Grandpa 
Elephant. 

The next thing he pulled out was a wonderful 
brass trumpet. As soon as he had swallowed his 
banana Little Elephant wrapped his trunk around 
the horn and blew, “TOOT-toot! TOOT-toot!” 


16 










Little Elephant blew, “TOOT-toot! TOOT-toot!” 








At the first blast Mother Elephant cried, “Oh 
dear,” and pulled the covers over her head. “Eek!” 
piped Grandpa Elephant, and flapped his ears shut. 
“Ho-ho-ho!” laughed Father Elephant. He liked the 
horn and wanted to blow it himself. 

Again and again Little Elephant poked his trunk 
down into his stocking and pulled out games and 
toys and red apples, and lollypops wrapped up in 
colored papers. His stocking grew thinner and 
thinner. 

Now there was just one thing left, right in the 
very tiptoe of his stocking. He could hardly reach 
it. He wriggled and wriggled his trunk away down 
inside the long, empty stocking. 

There—he had hold of the thing at last. What 
could it be? He saw Mother Elephant and Father 
Elephant winking at each other. Grandpa Elephant 
held the toe of the stocking while Little Elephant 
pulled out the package. He tore it open. 

A wrist watch! A big, round, shiny brass wrist 
watch with a fine leather strap! Little Elephant 
bounced up and down on the bed when he saw it. 
Then he held it up to his ear, “Tick-tick-tick!” Yes, 


18 



















it was a real watch. Then he saw a little knob on top. 
“What’s this for?” he asked. 

But just at that second the watch went off with 
a sound like a fire gong. “Brrrrrr-rrrrrr!” rang the 
alarm. Little Elephant thought it would never stop. 
He looked so surprised that Mother and Father Ele¬ 
phant doubled up with laughter. 

When breakfast was over Father Elephant gave 
everybody his presents from the big pile under the 
Christmas tree. Of course, Little Elephant got the 
most. But Father and Mother and Grandpa Elephant 
were as excited and happy as he was. 

Grandpa said that his nose was cold right then, 
and so he pulled on his grey and red trunk-warmer. 

Father Elephant went and stood before the mir¬ 
ror and painted his tusks so he would look beautiful 
for Christmas. 

Mother Elephant proudly put on her silver lace 
collar and said she’d never felt so dressed up before. 

One of the presents Little Elephant liked best 
was the funny game Grandpa Elephant gave him. 
In the box were a bunch of corks and a picture of a 
monkey with a hole cut out for his mouth. 


20 








Father Elephant stood and painted his tusks 



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The trick was to shoot the corks into the mon¬ 
key’s open mouth. That was easy. Little Elephant 
took up a cork in the end of his trunk, aimed, and 
blew. Away shot the cork, poof! But it didn’t hit the 
monkey. It caught Father Elephant in a tender place 
just behind the ear. That didn’t please him at all. 

When Father Elephant was settled down to his 
reading again Little Elephant tried once more. But 
just then Mother Elephant yawned. She wasn’t used 
to getting up so early. And the cork landed plunk! 
right in her mouth. She coughed and gasped and 
Father Elephant thumped her on the back. 

“Now, Little Elephant, you’ll have to run out¬ 
doors and play,” she sputtered as soon as she got 
her breath again. 

When dinner was ready Mother Elephant called 
Little Elephant to come in. The table was sagging 
in the middle from all the food, and the good smells 
made Little Elephant’s trunk quiver. 

“Oh-oo!” said Father Elephant, sitting down at 
the head of the table in a great high-backed chair. 

“Ah-aa!” sighed Mother Elephant as she dropped 
into a smaller chair at the other end. 


22 



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She coughed and gasped 
















“Mm-mmm,” murmured Grandpa Elephant, who 
settled into a comfortable chair with a cushion. 

“Can I have a drumstick?” cried Little Elephant, 
as he climbed up onto his high stool. And then he 
looked at the bowl of soup in front of him and said, 
“Humph!” 

He knew he must finish that soup before he 
could get any of the real dinner. So he dipped his 
trunk inside and gave a mighty suck, “Uuuuu- 
uuuuup!” Then he squirted it down his throat. 

Mother Elephant looked at him and whispered, 
“Oh, Little Elephant! That’s not polite.” 

When Little Elephant could see the pattern on 
the bottom of his bowl, he said, “Now, can I have 
my drumstick?” 

“Yes, Little Elephant. But you must wait until 
the rest of us have finished our soup,” said Mother 
Elephant. 

Little Elephant waited and waited. Why did 
grown-ups have to talk so much? 

At last Father Elephant began to serve. “Now 
here’s a fine drumstick for you,” he said. 

Little Elephant ate one drumstick and then an- 


24 



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He looked at the bowl of soup and said, “Humph!” 





















other and another and another, as well as all the 
other good things. Then Mother Elephant went out 
into the kitchen and came back with the Christmas 
pudding on a great silver tray. 

Little Elephant sighed because he felt ready 
to burst and he didn’t see how he could eat any pud¬ 
ding, and he’d been waiting all day for that pudding. 
So he got up and trotted around the table ten 
times to joggle down his turkey. He must make 
room for the Christmas pudding! 

That afternoon when Little Elephant was tired 
of playing with all his toys and games, Mother Ele¬ 
phant said, “Come on into the kitchen, Little Ele¬ 
phant, and we’ll have a taffy pull.” 

Now there was nothing that Little Elephant 
liked better than a taffy pull. Soon the big pot of 
candy was bubbling on the stove. 

At last it was cooked enough and Mother Ele¬ 
phant poured the thick, sticky stuff onto a huge 
platter and set it outdoors. When it was cool she 
brought it in and scraped it all up into a ball. 

“Now take hold, Little Elephant. It’s ready to 
pull,” she said. 


26 




So he got up and trotted around the table 


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Little Elephant buttered the end of his trunk so 
the candy wouldn’t stick and he grabbed hold of the 
wad of taffy. It was hot but he held on and pulled, 
backing away from his mother, who was also pulling. 

Soon the taffy stretched out into a thick rope 
between them. Then they looped it back together 
and pulled again. They had to work fast. Some¬ 
times Little Elephant wasn’t quick enough, and the 
taffy slipped off his trunk in long strings. Then he 
had a terrible time making it all stick together 
again. 

When it was almost finished they went into the 
other room to show Father and Grandpa Elephant 
how it was coming. But Little Elephant had waited 
too long without pulling and now the taffy had be¬ 
gun to stick to his trunk. The more he tried to get 
it off, the worse it stuck, until a big wad of it was 
wrapped around his nose. He shook his trunk, he 
snorted, but he couldn’t get it off. 

Before Mother Elephant could come to help him, 
Little Elephant whirled his trunk around and around 
in the air. Maybe he could shake it loose. 

Suddenly the big wad of taffy flew off and went 


28 


He held on and pulled, backing away from his mother 







sailing across the room. It landed smack on Grand¬ 
pa’s wig and kept on going, taking the wig along 
with it. 

Grandpa had been peacefully dozing by the fire. 
But when he felt his wig suddenly and firmly lifted 
off, he woke up and clutched his bald head. “Oh me, 
oh my,” he scolded. “There’s no peace in this house 
with Little Elephant around.” 

Mother Elephant ran to comfort Grandpa and 
get the taffy out of his wig. Father Elephant didn’t 
know what to say or what to do, so he looked very 
sternly at Little Elephant and blowing through his 
trunk, he said, “Humph-ah! Humph-ah!” 

But Little Elephant was doubled up with laugh¬ 
ter. He had never before seen Grandpa Elephant 
without his wig. And he did look funny! 

At last the day was over and everything was 
quiet. Mother Elephant was knitting and winding 
off her yarn around Father Elephant’s beautifully 
painted tusks. 

Grandpa Elephant was contentedly raking his 
back with a long-handled scratcher that Mother 
Elephant had given him for Christmas. 


30 



Grandpa Had been peacefully dozing by the fire 





































“A nice Christmas,” murmured Mother Ele¬ 
phant. 

“Yes, a nice Christmas,” nodded Father Elephant 
sleepily. 

“Yes, yes, a very nice Christmas,” wheezed 
Grandpa, giving himself an extra good scratch. 

Just then Mother Elephant heard Little Elephant 
plump into bed. She laid down her knitting and tip¬ 
toed upstairs to tell him goodnight. On his pillow 
lay the big brass trumpet. On his wrist the watch 
was still ticking away. But Little Elephant was so 
tired, and so full of dinner and peanuts and popcorn 
and taffy that he was almost asleep when Mother 
Elephant tucked in his covers. 

As Mother Elephant turned out the lights and 
closed the door she heard Little Elephant say sleep¬ 
ily, “Gee, that was a nice Christmas.” 










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